Swim with Me
by FanofBellaandEdward
Summary: The last person Rin expects to see at the beach at night is Haru. What on earth is he doing here all the way in Australia? Slash; Halloween fic; Rin's pov


**Author's note: My first Free! Halloween themed fanfic! I took some liberties with when the swimming competitions take place, not that it matters much in this story *coughs* Set after the second season.**

 **Warnings: For once no warnings. It's a Halloween fic, so prepare yourselves!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Free!. Masahiro Yokotani owns it.**

 **I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

 **Swim with Me**

Dusk was settling in when he closed the front door behind him and he took a moment to scroll through his playlist, checking the songs, before putting his earbuds in and pressing play on the first song.

As the sound of drums started to fill his ears, he took his time to stretch properly. Coach would kill him if he forewent the stretches and had his times suffering as a result of that. He was this close to being selected for the Olympic team, he wasn't about to screw up his chances just because he hadn't stretched properly.

After finishing his stretching routine, he rotated his shoulders a couple of more times before he set off at a light jog. Autumn was settling into the country and he wanted to take advantage of the mild weather for as long as possible. Running when it rained wasn't exactly one of his favourite pastimes.

He waved at Mrs. Johnson who was walking her Jack Russell Terrier and made a mental note to visit Russel and Lori again soon. It had been a couple of weeks since he last spoke to them and he wanted to see them before he became too busy. On that note, he should probably call his mother soon too, before she would start worrying about him. She had never been that overly protective or a real worrywart, but he knew she appreciated the occasional phone call from him.

Jogging in place he waited for the traffic light to turn green before crossing the street. He'd go to the beach tonight; the fresh, salty tang of the ocean should be enough to clear his head after he'd spent the entire afternoon studying. It would help him fall asleep easier too. He'd noticed years ago that a trip to the beach, no matter how short, tended to improve his night's rest and after the rigorous training schedule of this week and the short nights thanks to the tests he had to study for, he was looking forward to getting a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow was Sunday and he figured after the extra hours of training he'd put in this month, he was allowed the morning off.

After waving to a couple of other people he sometimes encountered during his jogs, he broke away from the footway and ran down the stone steps until his feet hit golden brown sand. The ocean was right in front of him, the water glittering brightly as the setting sun dyed it purple, pink, red and orange.

Inhaling deeply, he grinned as the sharp ocean scent buried itself in his nose, filling his lungs, and with renewed vigour he started running quicker; his feet pounding down on the sand. He chose to keep close to the water, as the sand was firmer there, less likely to trip him. There was nobody else at the beach, but he hadn't really expected anyone to still be here. The evenings were getting colder and most people sought warmth in their houses.

The sky was steadily becoming darker, the sun having made way for the moon and stars, and when the current song faded out, he heard the water splashing, waves rolling over each other and almost touching his shoes.

By the time he paused, the muscles in his legs were burning slightly; an ache he had grown familiar with years ago. Sweat coated his skin slightly and he was glad he'd had the foresight of tying his hair back. Sweaty hair plastered against his neck wasn't exactly a nice sensation.

Breathing in deeply and out again, he rose up from his hunched position and looked up. The sky was a very deep blue now, alerting him to the fact that it had grown quite late. He better go back; he still had to take a shower and he wanted to rest as much as possible before he had to go back to the pool on Monday.

He had also reached the end of his playlist apparently, meaning he had been running for much longer than he thought he had. Oh well, he just had to restart it and charge it tonight.

Scrolling up to the first song again, a loud splash caught his attention. His thumb hovering above the screen, he frowned and listened attentively.

There, another loud splash.

It didn't sound like regular waves crashing against each other and he whirled around, wondering just who the hell could be so stupid as to go for a swim at night.

Yes, there was someone swimming a bit further away; their face turned away from him even as a pale arm came up to cave a path through the water.

"Hey!" he called out, making his voice loud enough to carry over the water. "You're not supposed to swim this late at night in the ocean! Do you know how dangerous this is?"

The person paused and for a moment it seemed like he or she would ignore him, but then they turned around and started swimming towards him.

Waiting for the person to come out of the water, he cast a glance around, wondering where they had left their clothes behind when they had apparently decided they were in the mood for a nightly swim in the ocean. He couldn't spot them immediately, but they might have been put behind the rocks.

The sound of water splashing wildly drew closer and he turned around again, opening his mouth to ask them what the hell they'd been thinking when the person straightened up and looked at him calmly.

He froze, his eyes glued on the other one's face, and for a long moment nobody said anything.

"What the fuck?" he finally brought out in a strangled voice, ripping out his earbuds. "What the fuck are you doing here, Haru?!"

Haru – his friend, his rival, the guy who was supposed to be on the other side of the ocean, training in Tokyo for the upcoming nationals – blinked at him. "I came to see you, Rin," he answered calmly, as if he thought it was normal to just appear _out of the blue in the freaking ocean._

"Just – how the hell did you get here?" Rin snapped, frazzled and feeling thoroughly thrown off guard. He hadn't expected to see the blue eyed man for at least a couple more months – what the hell was he doing all the way here in _Australia_?

Pushing some wet strands out of his face, Haru replied dryly, "With the plane of course – how else would I have got here? Swimming?" The corners of his mouth curled up in a tiny smirk and Rin scowled at him.

"You could have called me and I would have come pick you up at the airport," he said annoyed, but secretly he couldn't help but feel impressed that Haru had managed to navigate the airports and get here without any trouble, given how lacking his English skills were.

He also felt flattered, ridiculous as that sounded. He couldn't help it, though, because Haru had come all the way to Australia to _see him_.

The man who had scoffed at improving his English – "Why would I when I live in Japan and you'll be with me at international events?" – and who would literally live in the water if that was at all possible, had taken a plane on his own volition to visit Rin.

The red haired man had never expected Haru to actually do such a thing. Haru despised leaving his comfortable bubble, the routine he'd built up for himself, and taking a plane to Australia and actually get all the way to the town Rin was staying in was definitely way outside his routine.

Damn, he hadn't thought Haru would actually do this.

Haru shrugged, still lingering in the water as if he couldn't feel the chilly breeze of the night. "You said you'd be busy studying today and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Haru, I would have made time for you. Fuck, it's not like you take the plane every day," Rin said exasperatedly, stuffing his phone in his pocket. His earbuds would probably get tangled up again, but that was a concern for later. "Did you ring the doorbell?" he asked with a frown when he realised Haru must have arrived either this morning or this afternoon.

He'd been home the entire day, but he hadn't heard the doorbell ring once – at least he thought he hadn't, but sometimes he tended to get a bit too focused on the material he was studying to the point that the outside world faded away.

"No, I wanted to go for a swim first and the ocean's nearby."

Rin stared at him dumbfounded. "You took a plane to see me and instead you decided to go to the ocean to swim?" he asked offended, placing his hands on his hips. "What the hell, Haru?"

That was just so fucking typical of dolphin boy – he went to a completely different country to visit a friend and instead got distracted by water.

Jesus fucking Christ. Haru just never changed, huh?

Looking unperturbed by Rin's tone, Haru tilted his head slightly to the right. "Swim with me," he demanded; that familiar challenging look on his face as if he was daring Rin to swim with him in the pool instead of the freaking _ocean at night_.

"Are you completely insane?" Rin snapped, throwing his hand out to the water. "It's nearly midnight and it's the ocean, what the hell do you think I'm going to say?"

"The water is calm," Haru insisted, stubborn as always. "It's just a little swim. What's wrong with that?"

Pointing at the ocean, Rin answered flatly, "That's the ocean," then pointed upwards, "and it's clearly dark. What do you think could possibly be wrong with that combination?"

The black haired man huffed. "The water never hurt me."

"Which is good for you, but that still doesn't take away the fact that you're not supposed to swim in the ocean at night," Rin retorted curtly and beckoned him closer. "Get out of the water for fuck's sake. I don't want to have to phone Makoto and tell him you caught pneumonia because you insisted on swimming in cold water."

"That's not how it works, Rin," Haru said and made no move to leave the water, even though he must be bloody cold by now.

"That isn't the point, Haru," Rin snapped, taking a couple of steps closer. "Now's not the time to go swimming for fuck's sake."

"There's always time to swim," Haru said mulishly and Rin could wring his neck at this point.

"Yeah, yeah. I thought you were here to visit me?" he asked annoyed. He also thought he should feel offended that he was losing against water – how pathetic was that?

"I am, but you were busy and the water's nice," Haru replied frankly, pushing more wet locks out of his face.

"I'm not busy now, am I?" the red haired man huffed, running a hand through his own hair. "Come on, let's go. Are you staying in a hotel or are you crashing at my place?"

"Swim with me," Haru suggested instead again, clearly not ready to let go of that idea. His blue eyes sparkled as he took a step backwards, further into the water.

Rin was ready to _scream_. Why was Haru being so damn obstinate?! He was like a freaking toddler hell bent on getting his way.

"Haru, seriously, have you lost your damn …" His breath hitched and abruptly he lost all his words. They were carried away with the breeze which picked up now, ruffling through his hair.

Holding out his hand, standing perfectly still, Haru repeated quietly, "Rin, for the last time swim with me." His eyes carried a level of intensity which Rin had never witnessed before and it sent a shiver down his spine, his stomach doing a funny tumble.

There was no more protest.

* * *

Swimming at night in the sea was different.

Swimming at night in the sea _with Haru_ .. was on a whole other level.

His sappy side couldn't help but think it even had something otherworldly, magical even. With the stars dotting the night sky like tiny, bright lights; the moon bathing everything in its silvery glow, and Haru floating peacefully next to him, it was easy to ignore the chilly breeze and the cool water lapping at their skin.

They had swum for a bit, racing each other, the challenge impossible to resist, before they had silently agreed to just float around, allowing the water to calm down once more.

Their pinkies brushed against each other sometimes, sending sparks of electricity through Rin's body. As he stared up at the sky, watched the stars blink and listened to Haru's soft breathing, he couldn't help but think this, this scene, them together like this, was _romantic_.

That thought had him redden as soon as it shot through his mind and his body thrummed with unexpected warmth.

As if on cue, Haru turned his head to look at him. "Why are you blushing?" he asked; a vague hint of curiosity underlining his voice.

"I'm not," Rin denied hastily. "It's from the cold, that's all!"

"Cold, hm?"

There were splashing noises and when Rin looked, Haru was upright again – and very close to Rin.

The shock of having the other man so close all of a sudden had Rin accidentally swallowing some water which lapped at his mouth, and he shot upright too, choking and spluttering.

"Wha-what the hell, Haru?!" he coughed, throat stinging.

"So you weren't blushing for another reason?" The intense look was back in those blue eyes and his fingers brushed against Rin's under water. He appeared completely unbothered by the fact that his friend was busy spitting out water still, trying to stop coughing.

Rin swallowed, wincing when his throat stung a bit; all too aware of how close their bodies were. "No, what – what other reason would there be?" he croaked out.

A faint smile, barely noticeable, curled the corners of Haru's mouth and Rin's breath hitched. Small the smile might be, but it still made blue eyes shine, a sight Rin usually only saw when he and Haru raced each other. There was a spark there, ready to burst into an inferno any second now. The shiver running down Rin's spine had nothing to do with the chilly breeze.

"You can't think of another reason?" Haru murmured.

"I – I don't think - " He was shocked into silence when a pair of cold lips sealed his mouth, swallowing his words.

Haru's lips, while cold, were soft and tasted somewhat like salt. His kiss made Rin's own lips tingle, every nerve alight, heat travelling from the pit of his belly to the rest of his body. Only when fingers tentatively caressed his arms before lacing through his own did Rin awaken from his stupor. Before Haru could pull back and wrongly assume he'd made a mistake, Rin surged forwards, returning the kiss with an enthusiasm that surprised them both.

His world narrowed down to the mouth on his, to the slender body pressed against his own; deceptively strong arms shifting to wrap around his shoulders, leaving him free to settle his hands on Haru's hips.

When they parted, Rin's lungs were burning slightly and he took a big gulp of air. His mouth felt a tad swollen, but he resisted the urge to swipe his fingers across it. Instead his hands tightened their grip on Haru's hips and ruby red eyes gazed at him in astonishment.

"What was that?" he asked dazed, not sure anymore that this was real. Maybe this was all just an elaborate dream? Because there was no way Nanase Haruka, his rival, his best friend, the one he'd been enamoured with from the start, had actually kissed him just now.

He had to be dreaming now, right? God, if so he hoped never to wake up.

The corners of Haru's mouth twitched. "Maybe you should pay more attention to those romantic movies you love if you don't know what a kiss is," he teased; his fingers playing absently with red locks.

Reddening, Rin huffed, "I know what a kiss is, idiot. I just – didn't expect you to kiss me. Why?"

Face softening, Haru admitted quietly, "Been wanting to do that for a while. I didn't want to wait any longer. I did that for too long. You never know what could happen, no?"

"You took an airplane just to kiss me?" Rin asked in disbelief, but at the same time warmth filled him and he couldn't help but feel giddy. Who could blame him?

 _Nanase Haruka_ had taken a plane, had flown all the way here just to confess, to kiss Rin.

"You don't think that's slightly going overboard?" he questioned teasingly, even as he ran his hands across Haru's slick back.

Haru looked at him unimpressed. "I don't need to hear that from you," he retorted deadpan, clearly referring to the time Rin had taken Haru on an impromptu trip to Australia when the latter had hit a wall.

Grinning, completely unrepented still, Rin eyed the dark haired boy silently before mumbling, "So, erm, you like me then? Like in the romantic sense?" He was pretty sure his cheeks were splotched red again and he bit down on his lip; nervous in spite of what had just happened between them.

"No, I just go around randomly kissing people," Haru replied flatly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and okay, yeah, Rin probably deserved that one for asking such a stupid question.

Give him a break, however! Never in a million years had he expected to one day have Haru kissing him first! Sure, he might have been nursing somewhat of a crush on the quiet boy for quite a while now, but quite frankly, he'd been content with just pining from afar, not daring to break the status quo between them and actually do something about his feelings.

He didn't think he'd have been able to handle a rejection from Haru.

 _But Haru had kissed him first._

It was a thought which kept bouncing around in his mind, which had him nearly vibrating right out of his skin and his hands clenching against Haru's back.

Haru had kissed him first – that had to mean …

"But yes, Rin, I like you in the romantic sense," Haru said deadpan, but his eyes were shining in that particular way that said he was just teasing.

"I like you too," Rin blurted out, needing it to be said aloud in case his own reaction to the kiss hadn't already been beyond clear.

"I'm glad to hear that. This would have been awkward otherwise," Haru replied cheekily; a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips when Rin pinched his side in retaliation.

Hesitating for a moment, before deciding fuck it, there was nothing holding him back anymore, he asked haltingly, "Can I – can I kiss you again?"

That small smile bloomed into something bigger, which had Rin's heart skipping a beat and his eyes widening a tad. "You can, yeah," Haru murmured and then they were kissing again, cold lips heating up underneath the other's touch.

* * *

Rin didn't know how long they stood there in the water, wrapped up in each other. The ocean no longer felt cold, the sensation of it adding something else to the already mind blowing kisses they exchanged. Sometimes it felt like Haru wanted to retreat deeper into the water without releasing Rin's lips, but the red haired man always pulled him back.

He didn't trust himself to remain alert enough in the deeper water when Haru was still kissing him enthusiastically, hands caressing his back and sliding down his chest. It would be beyond embarrassing to be swept away by the tides just because Haru's lips and touch proved to be too distracting.

Haru had just started kissing his neck – and damn it, he'd never known before just how sensitive his neck was; the sensation of lips softly nibbling there maddening enough to elicit conflicting urges in him: pull back or push closer – when an annoying loud, buzzing noise finally penetrated through the haze he'd fallen under and he cursed, tilting his head to the beach.

"What the …" Then he realised that the buzzing noise was most likely his phone and he cursed louder, setting about extracting himself from Haru's embrace – albeit very unwillingly.

"Rin?" The blue in Haru's eyes was nearly swallowed up completely by expanding black and Rin had to suppress a groan at the sight of a dishevelled wet Haru with his cheeks flushed and his lips swollen and red.

 _That sight was going to be the death of him._

Reluctantly he took a couple of steps to the beach, the loose sand shifting underneath his feet. "Sorry, Haru, but someone is calling me. I need to check who," he explained, hurrying back to the beach, ignoring for the time being Haru's protest. He wanted nothing more than to go back into the water and kiss Haru senseless again, but his phone just wouldn't stop buzzing, so whoever was trying to get a hold of him was desperate.

Checking the lit up screen he blanched at the time which greeted him: two fifteen a.m. Fuck, he hadn't realised he'd been at the beach for this long already! Coach was going to have his head if he showed up at training without having properly rested.

Releasing a groan of frustration he finally took notice of the name staring up at him from the screen and he frowned. Why was he calling so late at night?

"Makoto? Do you realise how late it is?" he asked when he accepted the call before wrinkling his nose, quite aware of how hypocritical that sounded, coming from him.

"Rin, it's – it's about Haru." Makoto sounded a bit strange through the phone, muffled and rather nasal as if he'd either cried or was recovering from a cold.

It was weird to hear Makoto like that, but given that he started talking about Haru instantly – did that mean the idiot hadn't even told his friends he was leaving on a trip to Australia? It honestly wouldn't surprise Rin, but that left him with the task of reassuring Makoto that his best friend just hadn't suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"Yeah, what about him? He's with - "

"There – there was a – the plane, it cr-crashed," Makoto stammered, his voice breaking several times.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Rin asked perplexed, unsure what a plane had to do with Haru.

"Rin, Haru – he was – he was on his way to you, but – but the plane cra-crashed," Makoto choked out and started crying. "Haru – he's – he's gone. He – he was on that plane."

Rin's pulse was loud in his ears all of a sudden and his hand tightened around his phone. "Stop fucking around, Makoto, that's not funny!" he barked angrily. What kind of messed up joke was that?! "Haru's not gone, he's right here with me!"

"No, no, no, Rin, he's gone. He – he was – he was on that plane, but it crashed and – and nobody – nobody survived. _Haru's d-d-dead_."

"Haru's not dead, he's right here with me in the fucking ocean!" Rin snarled and whirled around. "Haru, tell Makoto to stop fucking …" His voice died out when he saw nothing but water illuminated by the moonlight.

Dashing forwards, red eyes shot back and forth frantically; his heart thundering madly in his eyes, filling his ears with the beat. "Haru? Come on, that's not funny! Did you go swimming again? Come out of the water, you lunatic! This is so not the time to impersonate a merman!"

The water remained unstirred, waves gently lapping at the sand, brushing over his toes when he stopped abruptly. "Haru! Where the hell are you?"

No matter how many times he screamed Haru's name in despair in the cover of the night; no matter how much he ran back and forth hoping, praying to spot dark hair bobbing in the ocean, he saw nothing.

Haru was gone.

 _As if he'd never been here at all._

The ocean had never felt so cold before.

 **The End**

* * *

 **AN2: Yes, I just did that. Can't have happy endings with Halloween, hm? *hums***

 **Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!**

 **I hope to see you all back in my future stories!**

 **Cuddles**

 **Melissa**

 **P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.**


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